Sunday, September 15, 2013

The 2013 Election in Cambodia:
The Battle between the ruling party CPP (Cambodia People Party) and the
opposition party CNRP (Cambodia National Rescue Party, a Cambodian electoral
alliance between Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party founded on 17 July 2012
)

Chronological Event Leading to
the announcement of the Final Result by the National Election Committee of
Cambodia

On 28th July 2013, I went to vote to fulfill my duty as a citizen of
Cambodia. In my designated Koh Kel commune, the result was very clear
CNRP won handsomely over CPP. In my voting room number 1267, CNRP
received 351 votes, while CPP had only 51 votes and other six parties
(Funcinpec, League for Democracy Party, Cambodian Nationality Party, Khmer
Anti-Poverty Party, Khmer Economic Development Party, and Democratic Republican
Party) got a combined of 9 votes. This is my personal recollection of a
chronological event leading to the release of the final result announced
by NEC on 8th September 2013. To compile this examination, I used my personal observation and many outside sources namely the local newspapers (The Cambodia Daily, Phnom Penh Post,...) and other national and international
articles.

Introduction: After the brutal
regime of the Khmer Rouge regime, and the signing 1991 Paris Agreements, the
first election in Cambodia was held in May 1993 and drew a big turnout of just
under 90%. The official result of the 1993 election was the opposition
royalist Funcinpec party won 58 seats, the opposition Buddhist Liberal
Democratic Party (BLDP) 10 seats, and the opposition Molinaka party 1 seat and
The CPP won 51 seats. The CPP was shocked as they lost to
Funcinpec. Hun Sen and his party strongly rejected the result and
protested irregularities to UNTAC. They also threatened secession
of the eastern provinces. King Sihanouk intervened by appointing Prince
Ranariddh and Hun Sen as the world first co-prime ministers on 24 September
1993. The CPP controlled the armed forces, police, courts and
National Assembly leaving the winning party Funcinpec only in name. In
the July 1998 election, the official results gave the CPP 64 seats, Funcinpec 43 seats, the new Sam Rainsy Party 15, giving the CPP a
slim 64-58 majority in parliament. The opposition staged massive,
peaceful demonstrations and a large protest. Hun Sen send security forces into
Democracy Park in Phnom Penh to violently disperse protesters.With the pressure from the US, Prince
Ranariddh in November 1998 again had to make a deal to form a new coalition
government, this time with Funcinpec as a junior partner. In government, Funcinpec
had no effective power, as all decisions were taken by Hun Sen and the CPP.
Prince Ranariddh was made president of the National Assembly, and both
Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party were given places on parliamentary
committees and remained in opposition. But neither Prince Ranariddh nor opposition members of
parliament (MPs) had any power to overcome CPP objections and move legislation
through parliament or to hold the executive branch accountable. The
2003 election yielded the CPP 73 seats, Funcinpec 26 seats and the Sam
Rainsy Party 24 seats. The opposition refused to vote in a new government, as
the two/thirds rule applied, until the CPP agreed to a broad package of
fundamental reforms to make Cambodia’s political and electoral system more democratic.
It held out once again for 11 months before Funcinpec gave in and agreed to a
60-40 division of ministerial positions and a much more limited reform agenda. In
the 2008 elections, the CPP, which had total control of National Election
Committee, state media and state coffers, won 90 seats, while the SRP won 26 seats, Human Rights Party 3 seats,
Funcinpec 2 seats, and Norodom Ranarridh 2 seats. Hun Sen and the CPP were able
to quickly form a government in 2008, this time without opposition
participation after the CPP super-majority in the National Assembly had amended
the constitution to require only a simple majority vote of members of
parliament to form a government in 2006. The EU officially observed
the election and concluded that it did not meet international standards.
From 2008-2013, in the National Assembly the CPP booted opposition members off
committees and limited their ability to raise issues or engage in
debates. The question remains: Will the 28th July 2013 elections be any
different? Will this election be free and just? Will the CPP still dominate the Cambodian politics? Do the Cambodian people want change or status quo? Here are the chronological
events of the 2013 election leading to the final result:

28th July
2013: around 5:30pm, Sam Rainsy from the opposition party CNRP announced that
his party won the election. He later retracted the result due to unknown
reasons. Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information, announced preliminary
results at around 7:30pm in Facebook claiming the CPP won 68 (3.2 million
votes) and CNRP 55 (2.9 million votes). Voters
turnout this year is 68.49% (6,627,159 valid votes out of 9,675,453 registered
votes). The preliminary result of this election showed that a good number
of the Cambodian people are extremely frustrated and dissatisfied with the
ruling party and the existing order. They believe that the society is so
corrupted and needs a fundamental change. The ruling party CPP cannot
force views on its members and the general population and needs a major reform.

29th July
2013: Sam Rainsy claimed massive electoral fraud, rejected the results of
Sunday’s election and called for an independent investigation consisting of
members of opposition and CPP as well the U.N., representatives of foreign
governments and NGOs. He told local and international journalists and the
audience at CNRP head office, “In one word, we don’t accept the election
results.” Transparency International and the Committee for Free and Fair
Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) have both reported observing widespread voting
irregularities on Sunday.

30th July
2013: the ruling party CPP and the opposition CNRP have each claimed
victory. CPP said they won 68, while CNRP claimed they won a minimum of
63. NEC will issue official preliminary result on 12 August 2013.

31st July
2013: after spending several days in seclusion in his first public
appearance, Prime Minister Hun Sen said his ruling party will participate in an
investigation into alleged fraud and irregularities during Sunday’s election
with a conciliatory tone. He also spoke of a separate committee to
negotiate with the opposition on the make up of a new National Assembly
comprised of Interior Minister Sar Kheng, Acting Senate President Say Chhum,
and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. The US state department called for a
“credible” investigation into allegations and irregularities. On the
other front, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged all countries not to back
the opposition party CNRP in response to the US State Department ‘s, EU, and
Japan call for an investigation into election’s day alleged fraud and
irregularities. China and Hungary are the only two countries to expressly
endorse the elections as free, fair, and transparent.

1st August
2013: NEC rejected joint party vote investigation into alleged frauds and
irregularities. CNRP seeks to conduct an investigation outside NEC and
called for an independent investigation in to the election.

2nd August
2013: Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that if opposition CNRP newly elected
members fail to take their seat in Parliament before the end of 60-day deadline
for the formation of a new government, those seats would be given to the CPP
based on NEC regulations. His interpretation of the constitution has been
widely challenged.

3rd August
2013: The UN released a statement stating that Secretary General Mr. Ban
Ki-Moon welcomed the peaceful conduct of the election but supported an
investigation into alleged irregularities. Philip Sen, a spokesman
for the UN’s mission in Cambodia said that the UN had yet to receive a request
from either party to participate as a member or observer in any investigation
into election irregularities. NEC hosted a representative from CPP and
CNRP to discuss the creation of a committee to investigate irregularities.

9th August
2013: representative from the CPP and CNRP met to discuss the formation of
the joint committee and failed to come to an agreement over what the group
would lead the investigation. CPP wanted a joint committee that included
NEC, while CRNP proposed an observer from the United Nations and the presence
of International NGOs. Neither party came to the table in a spirit of
compromise, only with demands for other party to yield. The army moved at
least six canon-mounted armored personnel carriers into the city to control the
political tension.

12 August
2013: in the midst of talk between CPP and CNRP, NEC announced official
preliminary election results that supported Information Minister Khieu
Kanharith’s claim of CPP victory (CPP: 68, CNRP: 55). CNRP was still
committed to finding a political resolution.

20 August
2013: representative from the CPP and CNRP met again to discuss the formation
of the joint committee and failed again to come to an agreement over what the
group would lead the investigation. CPP objected to any foreign
involvement, while CRNP didn’t want NEC to be part of the investigation
committee. So far, only a handful of countries have endorsed the
preliminary results of the election results released by the NEC. Vietnam,
Myanmar, Laos, China, Hungary, and Belarus are the only countries to have
officially recognized the CPP’s victory. US and Australian
diplomats in Phnom-Penh renewed their request for an investigation to election
irregularities.

25th August
2013: more than 20000 people attended CNRP rally at Freedom Park to listen to
party leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to report election related developments
to the voters, and to listen to their thoughts about the next course of actions
as well. I was at the rally. I attended 3 other rallies two in
Kandal province and the other in Kien Say district. The opposition party
still holds firm on their demand for justice by launching an unbiased
investigation into the contentious election results.

28th August
2013: CNRP announced that it will hold a mass demonstration on 7th
September 2013 against the preliminary result one day before final results are
expected to be released by the Constitutional Council of Cambodia. The
government sent a letter to foreign embassies and local and international NGOs
to warn them about a coup by the opposition party to illegally overthrow the
elected CPP-led government. By employing troops throughout the capital
city and tanks, CPP has used threat as a legitimate political strategy to
scare the population and the street protestors.

1st and 4th
September 2013: CRNP rehearsed non-violent and peaceful protest for
7th September 2013 showdown, while CPP gave a special
training to 2000 anti riot police on how to handle mass demonstration.
CNRP switched from calls for protest to calls for peace and prayer.

6th
September 2013: The Situation Room, a conglomerate of 21 NGOs and
election monitors established to oversee the July 28 poll, found serious
problems preceding and during the election. More than 10,000 cases of voting
irregularities were found across the nation but were especially alarmed by
reports from Kandal province, where Prime Minister Hun Sen was the CPP’s No. 1
candidate for a seat in the National Assembly. “The entire election
process was neither free and fair. The election results do not fully
reflect the will of the voters,” stated the joint statement. The
Constitutional Council rejected all the complaints related to the
irregularities during the 28 July national election. The National
Election Committee and the Constitutional Council of Cambodia are not
considered neutral. Both have strong ties to the ruling CPP.

7th
September 2013: more than 40000 people (based on my
observation) attended the massive demonstration at Freedom Park to contest the
election’s result tarnished with voting irregularities and frauds. The
opposition party used this event as a direct democracy to make calls for change
– the urgent need to remove the CPP from power. “Our forest is destroyed
and other natural resources are destroyed. We should come together in
solidarity to help our mother (country),” said Sam Rainsy to the crowd.
There were ten of thousands security personnel deployed and riot police
officers in and around Phnom-Penh to maintain order and treat people from coming.

8th
September 2013: the National Election Committee released the final
and official 2013 election result, which confirmed a win by the ruling party
awarded CPP with parliamentary 68 and 55 to CNRP. From the government
view, this announcement shut the door for ‪the talk of an impartial
investigation into the election’ irregularities. But CNRP rejected
the fabricated outcome and will continue to protest to demand an independent
investigation of the 28 July vote.

Final
Reflection: The '8 September 2013' date was a sad day for democracy and the
people of Cambodia to hear and bear this unjust result. The election
result definitely didn't reflect the will of the voters based on my observation
and the majority of the people. I foresee many daunting challenges ahead
for both parties, especially the ruling party. CPP needs to change their
style of governing to run the country. Most of the people of
Cambodia don't trust them anymore. Good cannot come from force.
On the other hand, CNRP will have to fight harder and smarter to get what
the people want and demand - free and fair election, justice, rule of law,
quality education, jobs, livable wages, equal treatment and
opportunity,... With the strong support of the mass, CNRP has to be
creative to play the right card by engaging everybody in the fight for justice
and truth that include the people from the ruling party. CNRP must
bring not just hope but also faith to the mass. The question now is how
the international community reacts to this official announcement especially the
US, EU, Australia, and Japan. History has taught us that only the mass
can overthrow a totalitarian regime. We will see in the next massive
demonstrations how much the leaders of the opposition party leaders and our
people are willing to sacrifice for this change. I have noticed that a
good number of the nation’s youth rejected the values of their parents (status
quo). They want fundamental change. They want social justice, good
education, jobs, living wage, rule of law, and equal opportunity and
equality. In general, most of the poor and vulnerable people in Cambodia
are very frustrated and extremely dissatisfied with the existing order.
They propose to change the present system because they believe that the society
is so corrupt and only CNRP can help them defeat and end this status quo.

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About Me

Throughout my learning, I know my darkness well enough that I can sit in the darkness with others. Life is more about giving than receiving. My heart doesn't feel right unless I know that all children can get a good education. I know I cannot offer material goods or gift to the children but I always can offer pieces of my love through teaching. All the suffering in this world derives from wanting the happiness for yourself. All the happiness in this world derives from wanting the happiness for others.
“Thousand of candles can be lighted by one candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” Buddha